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EV Terms Explained!
EV Terms Explained!
We’ll admit it – having a conversation about electric vehicles (EVs) can be a bit intimidating to those who may be new to the space. Even for the average gearhead or someone well versed in heavy-duty vehicles, be they a mechanic, fleet manager or veteran driver, there are a handful of new terms found on every spec sheet that can come across as foreign and any maybe even a bit unnerving.
The good news is, all of the terminology is much simpler than it looks. For those looking to get a primer on common EV terminology – whether you’re looking to electrify your fleet, or just trying to decipher a brochure – below is a summary of the most critical terms to understand.
Energy and Power
Energy and Power
Kilowatts – Simply put, a kilowatt (or 1,000 watts) is a unit measurement of energy spent over time, commonly referred to as power. It is analogous to what is more commonly referred to as horsepower in North America. In fact, one horsepower is equal to about 0.75 kilowatts. Often expressed as kW, a kilowatt is most typically used in the EV world as a measure of charging power (speed) – more on this topic below.
Kilowatt-hours – A kilowatt hour (or kWh) is a common unit associated with how much energy can be stored in a battery pack. A kWh is a unit of energy storage, equivalent to 1 kW (or 1,000 watts) sustained for one hour, or in other words 1kW of energy consumed over an hour. Simply put, think of the kWh rating on a battery pack being similar to the size of a vehicle’s gas tank – it denotes how much energy the vehicle can store for use on the road. Generally speaking, the higher the kWh, the higher the range. Most will recognize kWh from their electricity bill, denoting how much electricity is consumed each month.
Volts and Amps
Volts and Amps
Volts/Voltage – A volt is a unit of electric potential, while voltage is the potential for energy to move across a medium. A common analogy is water pressure in a pipe, and turning up the pressure (voltage) delivers more water (power).
Amps/Amperage – An amp is a unit of electrical current (or flow). Going back to the pipe analogy, a higher amperage would be the equivalent of a larger diameter pipe, which in turn has the potential to flow more water.
Volts/Voltage – A volt is a unit of electric potential, while voltage is the potential for energy to move across a medium. A common analogy is water pressure in a pipe, and turning up the pressure (voltage) delivers more water (power).
Batteries and Charging
Batteries and Charging
Lithium-ion – Lithium-ion is a term referring to a battery cell built on a lithium-based chemistry which is used to store energy. Batteries store energy as direct current, or DC, which we will touch on in a moment. To learn more about the life of a lithium-ion battery, Lion Electric has put together the following article.
Charging Speeds – Charging speeds are expressed as kW. The kW figure represents approximately how much power will be delivered to the vehicle over the course of an hour. As an example, a battery requiring 100 kWh to reach 100% charge, charging at 50kW, would be fully charged in about 2 hours.
Level 2 (AC) Charging – Level 2 charging refers to an EV charging station that uses a 240-volt power supply. It is also known as AC (alternating current) charging, as it delivers AC power, which is then converted by the vehicle’s on-board charging station to DC power for storage in the battery. AC charging allows for a variety of charging speeds up to 19.2 kW, and because it can be plugged into a 240-volt outlet (similar to a dryer or RV plug) can be easily installed in most homes and business facilities.
DC Charging – DC (direct current) charging allows for higher charging speeds and delivers DC power directly to the battery. The speeds can be highly variable, from just above AC charging at about 20 kW, into the hundreds of kW. As such DC charging can allow batteries to be charged very quickly, and are ideal for vehicles which cannot sit overnight to charge or have longer duty cycles. However, the sky is not the limit with DC charging – each vehicle has a “load capacity” which dictates the maximum speed at which it can charge. The purpose of this is to keep the battery in good condition as too much heat can lead to damage. So, an EV with a 50 kW load capacity, even when plugged into a 150 kW DC charger, is only capable of charging at a maximum power level of 50 kW.
Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) – V2G, or bidirectional charging, refers to a specific technology that allows an EV to both accept charge from the grid as it normally would, as well as to push power back onto the grid from its battery. The advantages of V2G are that operators can sell power back to the grid at periods when demand is high, creating new revenue streams and also benefiting grid health. There are many other ways to use V2G as well, such as offloading to microgrids/local battery storage for later use.
Interested in learning more about heavy-duty electric vehicle options now that you’re fully versed in EV terminology?
Lion Electric’s medium and heavy-duty trucks, school and transit buses may be a fit for your fleet.
Interested in learning more about heavy-duty electric vehicle options now that you’re fully versed in EV terminology?
Lion Electric’s medium and heavy-duty trucks, school and transit buses may be a fit for your fleet.
Get in touch to learn more.
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